State v. Richardson

• Docket Number: 272A14
• Decision Date: 01 September 2023
• Parties: STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. JONATHAN DOUGLAS RICHARDSON
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v.
JONATHAN DOUGLAS RICHARDSON

No. 272A14

Supreme Court of North Carolina

September 1, 2023

Heard in the Supreme Court on 8 February 2023.

Appeal as of right pursuant to N.C. G.S. § 7A-27(a) from a judgment imposing a sentence of death entered by Judge Thomas H. Lock on 3 April 2014 in Superior Court, Johnston County, upon a jury verdict finding defendant guilty of first-degree murder.

Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Teresa M. Postell and Kimberly N. Callahan, Special Deputy Attorneys General, for the State-appellee.

Glenn Gerding, Appellate Defender, by Kathryn L. VandenBerg and James R. Grant, Assistant Appellate Defenders, for defendant-appellant.

David S. Rudolf and Brandon L. Garrett for The Innocence Project, Inc. and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice, amici curiae.

Justice MORGAN delivered the opinion of the Court. Justice BERGER delivered the supplemental opinion of the Court as to Issue F. Justice EARLS concurred in part and dissented in part. MORGAN, Justice.

OPINION

MORGAN, Justice

While this appeal arising from the abuse and murder of a young child presents this Court with a disturbing series of facts and circumstances, its resolution largely

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requires the application of well-established legal principles to the issues raised by defendant. We have carefully considered each issue and, being mindful of both the extremity of the crimes committed by defendant and the resulting sentence imposed upon him, we conclude that defendant's trial was free from prejudicial error and that his sentence of death must be upheld.

I. Factual and Procedural Background A. Factual events leading up to and including Taylor's death

This case involves profoundly significant abuses which were committed against "Taylor,"^[1] ultimately leading to the youngster's death at the hands of defendant. The evidence in the record before this Court is extensive, and in this introductory segment of the Court's opinion, we present an overview of the matters which culminated in Taylor's death. Additional facts will be incorporated into various portions of our analysis as they become relevant to each legal issue addressed.

The evidence in the record shows that Taylor was born on 6 July 2006 to Helen Reyes and Jerry Skiba. Reyes and Skiba first met one another at work. Although they never married, Reyes and Skiba lived together at the home of Skiba's parents beginning near the start of their relationship in 2003 and ending sometime in 2007. Reyes described her relationship with Skiba as having "ups and downs," including incidents of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse committed by Skiba against Reyes.

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Upon learning in 2005 that Reyes was pregnant, the couple attempted to improve their relationship and remained together through the birth of Taylor on 6 July 2006.^[2]However, difficulties continued for Reyes and Skiba in their relationship. When Taylor was about one year old, Reyes took the child and moved back into her mother's home in Raleigh where two of Reyes's sisters also resided. Although Skiba's contact with Taylor was intermittent thereafter, Skiba's parents had "a good relationship" with their grandchild and Reyes took Taylor to the paternal grandparents' home for visits.

In September 2008, Reyes enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. Reyes was required to establish a family care plan for Taylor. The family care plan established that Reyes's mother would provide care for Taylor during periods when Reyes was involved in training or deployment obligations. Following an extended period of basic training, Reyes's Army Reserve commitments generally were to consist of one weekend per month and, beginning in July 2010, an additional two-week session each year. Although the official family care plan for Taylor called for Reyes's mother to care for Taylor, Reyes testified that on some occasions, Reyes's sisters or Skiba's parents would keep Taylor. Other than her Army Reserve role, Reyes was not working at this time, and Taylor was not enrolled in any preschool or childcare programs, so Reyes spent the greater part of each day with her daughter.

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In December 2009, Reyes went to a bar and nightclub in Smithfield with a female friend when she noticed defendant whom Reyes described as "a tall, handsome, southern guy, respectful." Reyes and defendant talked and danced with one another at the club that night, leaving separately. Both returned to the establishment on the following night, where they conversed again and exchanged telephone numbers. Thereafter, Reyes began a romantic relationship with defendant. The tie between the twenty-seven-year-old Reyes and the twenty-year-old defendant progressed quickly, becoming sexual and involving multiple dates with one another each week by February 2010.

After Reyes and defendant had been dating for about two months, Reyes felt that their relationship was proceeding sufficiently well for Reyes to introduce defendant to Taylor. Reyes felt very positive about the rapport that developed between Taylor and defendant, and the couple began to include the child in some of their activities, including several trips to the beach. Reyes began to hope that she, Taylor, and defendant could form a family, despite the fact that one of Reyes's sisters had told Reyes that the sister saw defendant physically shake Taylor "early on" in the relationship between Reyes and defendant; Reyes did not believe her sister's report and never asked defendant about it.

When defendant and Reyes were dating, defendant was living with his grandparents. Reyes often spent time at the home of defendant's grandparents and sometimes brought Taylor. Reyes described a "little house" located behind the home

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of defendant's grandparents where Reyes and defendant would "hang out" and where Reyes sometimes spent the night with defendant. The backyard outbuilding ^[3] had airconditioning and electricity, but it did not have a refrigerator, bathroom, or running water, although there was running water available "outside near the outbuilding."

At some point in March or April of 2010, Reyes began to be concerned about her relationship with defendant, noticing that defendant did not want to see Reyes as often and "appeared to want to break off the relationship." Around the same time, Reyes and her mother were not getting along as well as they had been, due in large measure to the issue of Reyes's contributions to the financial needs of their shared household. In addition, there was also conflict among Reyes, her mother, and Reyes's sisters about Reyes's relationship with defendant. By late May or early June of 2010, Reyes's mother announced that she did not want defendant at their home, which led Reyes to consider taking Taylor and moving out of the residence. Ultimately, by 12 June 2010, Reyes and Taylor moved into defendant's residence to live with him.

Reyes made the decision that she and Taylor would reside with defendant despite her awareness of "incidents of . . . injuries or harm . . . to [Taylor]" when the child was alone with defendant, including Taylor suffering a one-half inch cut to the top of her head which defendant claimed had occurred when Taylor was jumping on the bed in the outbuilding and struck her head on the corner of a stationary bicycle.

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Although Reyes had wanted to take Taylor to the hospital on this occasion, nonetheless defendant dissuaded Reyes from doing so. Reyes also knew of another incident which occurred while Reyes, Taylor, and defendant were at the beach. While Reyes remained on the beach, defendant took Taylor "surfing" in the ocean. When Taylor and defendant came back onto the beach, Taylor had an eyelid injury which resulted in a black eye. Defendant explained that Taylor's injury occurred when a large wave caused the "small surfboard" to strike Taylor. Before moving in with defendant, Reyes had also witnessed the physical results of defendant's discipline of Taylor at least once, when Reyes returned from shopping to find Taylor with three or four welts on her back which defendant said resulted when defendant whipped Taylor. Reyes had actually seen defendant whip Taylor with his belt on multiple occasions without leaving marks on the child.^[4] At trial, Reyes was also asked about photographs taken of Taylor which showed the child with an unlit cigarette in her mouth and other photographs which showed Taylor holding a beer bottle as if she were drinking it. While Reyes admitted her awareness of defendant's creation of the situations shown in the photographs, Reyes stated that she had not approved of them.

Although defendant had been living in his grandparents' home, once Reyes and three-year-old Taylor moved in with defendant, the three resided solely in the outbuilding. They shared a bed which consisted of an air mattress with a hole which

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had been repaired with duct tape. During the three or four weeks that Reyes and Taylor resided with defendant in the outbuilding, Reyes saw defendant slap Taylor in the face with enough force to cause Taylor to fall to the floor; the blow did not leave a mark. Defendant slapped Taylor because the child refused to eat certain food that defendant had given to her. Reyes testified that she had witnessed defendant physically discipline Taylor four times.^[5]

Defendant was working in a construction job during the time period when Reyes and Taylor lived in the outbuilding with him. While defendant was at work during the day, Reyes and Taylor remained in the outbuilding, watching television, reading, and playing. They used the woods behind the outbuilding for toilet purposes and bathed at a nearby outdoor water source. They kept perishable foodstuffs in a cooler. Reyes and Taylor had little contact with defendant's grandparents, although "[t]here were times that [they] had gone in the house and showered[ ] and were able to use the bathroom as well" late at...